As we continue our study of our Bible, I would again assert that there are many compelling arguments which contend it was given us by inspiration. In effect, the words are from God, not men.
One very interesting line of reasoning deals with the influence of the Bible over world culture. Though it may not be the most technical of arguments, it is nevertheless strong, and compelling.
Batsell Barrett Baxter, in his book I Believe Because…, states this argument very clearly. Note this paragraph from page 175 of his book.
“Henry Rogers wrote a book, The Eclipse of Faith, in which he imagined that some powerful hand had wiped the influence of Christ out of civilization, as a hand might wipe the chalk writing from a chalkboard in a schoolroom. He dreamed that he went into his library and found many of his law books with blank paragraphs, that he went into his picture gallery and found many of his finest pictures with blank canvases in their frames, and that he examined many of the great anthologies of poetry only to find blank pages where some of the world’s finest poetry had been before. He dreamed that in driving downtown he found great gaping holes where buildings had vanished. There had been on these locations such institutions as schools, hospitals, orphanages, old peoples’ homes and the like. But now, with the influence of Christ removed from the world, all were gone. Then, this lawyer cried out, “I would not want to live at all in world where Christ were not.” We think that Henry Rogers had a very forceful way of conveying an idea which is absolutely true. We would borrow his idea and say that the same can be said for the Bible. Without its great influence for good, our world would be a tragic place in which to live.”
We are living in a time of great unrest, despair, and ungodliness. Men have truly forgotten God, and rejected his missives. If they would only begin to apply the principles of love for God and neighbor, the decay of our civilization would reverse.
When God’s principles, as revealed in Scripture are followed, society always prospers. Now, I realize that much harm has been done “in the name of religion”. Wars, the abuses of the Catholic church, and the sectarian divisions that exist are good examples of this. More recently, the abuse of women, and the bombing of abortion clinics have been in the news as well. But all of these evil things have come from a distortion of what is true, not from the will of God as revealed in the Bible text.
James asked the question, “Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh” (James 3:12). The point is simple. Whenever the principles of morality and law as found in the Bible are followed, society is uplifted. The fruits borne by an application of the Word reveal its origin. As Jesus said, “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:16). The Bible is known as the Word of God because of the influence it has on humankind. In fact, its influence shows it could only have come from God Himself.
As Baxter states on pages 175-176 of his book, “…the influence of the Scriptures is of such a nature that it can indicate only that the source from which this influence came was good. If the Bible had been a great hoax or deception, it could not have had the influence toward the uplifting of civilization that it has had…(this is why) I believe the Bible to be a book uniquely given by God.”
